This is the time of year when a lot of people “from away” have their sights set on the East End. Some are looking to throw fancy parties featuring celebrities or to present overpriced happenings with just a minuscule portion of the proceeds going to a charity, often with no local connections. Others are focused on financial gain, as evidenced by the many retail pop-up shops that sprout up every summer.
Ah, yes, another season of carpetbaggers swooping in to extract the riches while the sun shines! Sound familiar? It’s exactly the kind of hollow and transparent attention that locals can see right through.
Which is why we were so happy to see an entirely different kind of event come to Montauk last Thursday, thanks to singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright.
“Fifty Isn’t The End” was a concert at Montauk Point Lighthouse that celebrated Wainwright’s 50th birthday, coming up on July 22 (as well as that of his husband, Jörn Weisbrodt, who hit the big 5-0 mark earlier this year). The list of guest performers included big names like Jimmy Fallon, Tig Notaro and Laurie Anderson, as well as several of Wainwright’s musical family members: father Loudon, and sisters Lucy and Martha.
But unlike the see-through summer cellophane “happenings” that so many of us have come to detest, this event was different. Not only was the concert presented on a Thursday evening — a night that real locals understand is truly for them — but Wainwright also turned his birthday celebration into a benefit for the lighthouse, with proceeds from the concert going to the Montauk Historical Society.
It’s heartening to see such a high-profile event pay this kind of tribute to an East End nonprofit, and we are thrilled to have had it happen. We tip our hat to Wainwright, who grew up here and has a home here, for understanding the importance of supporting local organizations, many of which struggle to survive and garner visibility amid this sea of wealth. This is truly the kind of summer soiree we can get behind — and we would love to see more of this going forward.
Happy 50th birthday, Rufus!
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